Teaching Mindfulness-Based Workshop Resources and Information

Mindfulness-based Workshop Resources and Information

BEING IN THE MOMENT - THE MOMENT OF NOWLiving moment by moment. Seeing, hearing, sensing everything around us and within us afresh without judgement, worry or dreaming. Let it be and let us experience the moment rather than simply rush through everything.

Here is a list of “mindfulness” literature for children and
students on various topics including mindfulness, kindness, compassion,
gratitude, feelings and guided mindfulness stories, that can be used in school, at home or other settings.

Often when we are on our computers or smartphones, we become completely lost in our work and completely disconnected from our body in the here and now.

You may like to program a bell of mindfulness on your computer or smartphone and every quarter of an hour (or as often as you like), the bell sounds so you have a chance to stop, breath and relax. Breathing in and out three times is enough to release the tension in the body and smile, and then continue your work. If we’re in the middle of a conversation, hearing the bell of mindfulness can be a helpful reminder to practice mindful, compassionate speech.

There are also virtual Sanghas, guided meditations, and other mindfulness tools available online. You may like to check out Plumline if you’d like to find a virtual sangha in the Plum Village Tradition (and don’t forget you can find a local group that meets up near you by checking out our international sangha directory).

Here are some mobile and desktop apps we hope you’ll find helpful in supporting your energy of mindfulness throughout the day.

Desktop Apps

Bell of Mindfulness (Browser Extension)

Operating System: Windows | Mac | Linux

This is a simple bell that reminds us to take a short pause from whatever we’re doing on the computer, and come back to our breathing. As Thich Nhat Hanh has taught, returning to our breathing reconnects us with our body and mind in the here and now. We have a chance to take care of any tension we find there – we can stretch, smile, relax for a short moment. Installing a bell on our computer is one of the surest ways to stay mindful of whatever we are doing.

Another “mindfulness bell” app inspired by the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh. You can download the entire program or just the bell sounds. You can set the bell to sound on a time interval, an exact time, or a random interval.

Download the program first, then download the bell sounds into your c:\Program Files\MindfulClock directory. Once the files have been downloaded, open the MindfulClock control and select the new sounds by double-clicking on the sound file names.

Stillness Buddy is helping thousands of people around the world to live in the present moment, feel less stressed and happier, alive and more at peace.

Using key quotes and inspiring words from leading spiritual teachers, Stillness Buddy is like having a friend that, every now and then, gently reminds you to stop, breathe, center yourself again and then continue.

Thich Nhat Hanh has said that we need an intentional strategy to manage our media consumption in a mindful, awakened way. StayFocusd is a free app which empowers you to stick to your intention by limiting the amount of time that you can spend on time-wasting websites. For example, you could set a “healthy” time limit on news sites, of, say 5 or 10 minutes per day. There is also a new, paid version for phones and tablets.

Thich Nhat Hanh teaches us that “appropriate attention” is essential to being mindful. We need to be aware of the right things, not the wrong things.

If we want to cultivate a high quality of presence and concentration, we don’t want our attention being taken from us by unwanted advertisements. Ads are usually trying to sell us things we neither want nor need to be happy – or that are even toxic for body and mind. Adblock is a free app that replaces online ads with blank space.

Mobile Apps

MindBell

Operating System: Android

MindBell rings periodically during the day, to give you the opportunity to stop, breathe and smile. Stopping with the sound of the bell is an essential practice developed by Thich Nhat Hanh and the Plum Village community, and is at the foundation of cultivating mindfulness, presence, and self-compassion throughout the day.

Spire is a wearable breath and activity tracker that vibrates as soon as your breathing becomes irregular or tense, or if you’ve been sitting for longer than you wish. It’s a wonderful way to remind yourself to take a break, or stand up and stretch your legs. It also tracks “calm streaks” so you can learn to understand which times and places are calming for the body, and which are relaxing.

The Spire App now includes a full set of guided meditations and relaxations from Plum Village Dharma Teachers.

Insight Timer is a fun, connected way to support your meditation practice. It includes free guided meditations from Thich Nhat Hanh and other leading meditation teachers. For those new to meditation, there are introductory guided meditations and a supportive community to help you get started.

Menthal provides feedback on your mobile phone usage, so you have the information you need to cultivate a strategy for how you use technology. It tracks the full range of interaction between you and your phone. Running in the background, it records, for example every time you unlock your phone, every time you start an app, and every time you receive a call. The app can tell you the total time you spent with your phone in a day, or the number of times you used a particular app, so you can make informed choices about how you would like to spend your time, and what habits you’d like to transform.

Headspace helps you cultivate the life-changing skills of meditation and mindfulness. If you subscribe, you can access to hundreds of meditations on everything from stress and anxiety to sleep and focus. There are sessions to help you build healthier relationships with the people you love, and SOS sessions to help you find a place of calm and relaxation during meltdown moments.